The Purchasing Behavior of College Students : Identifying the Private and National Brand Consumer

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Price and value conscious consumers have many options when they shop at grocery retail stores. They can achieve price reductions through redeeming manufacturers' coupons, searching for in-store shelf or display discounts, taking advantage of advet1ised specials and buying private brands. Moreover, consumers can seek out national brands that are periodically offered at discount prices. This purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence private and national brand purchasing of grocery products by college students at supermarkets. This paper focuses on the demographic and psychographic theories of consumer behavior that have been hypothesized by scholars to explain private brand purchasing. In addition, this paper looks at beauty products to compare and contrast private brand purchasing across categories. This study found that product price is the most significant factor in purchasing private brand grocery products. For national brand grocery products, brand familiarity and brand loyalty are more important than product price. Students believe the value for money of private brands is slightly better than national brands. Product quality has very little impact on private or national brand grocery product purchasing decisions. Many students believe there is increased risk with purchasing a new private brand rather than a new national brand. Females are slightly more prone to purchase private brand grocery products and employed students are more likely to purchasing private brand grocery products as well. Product price is the most significant factor for purchasing decisions of both private and national brand beauty products. Product quality had more influence on beauty products than grocery products. Brand familiarity and brand loyalty had little influence on beauty product purchasing decisions. Purchasing risk was not a significant factor for beauty products. Males are significantly more prone to purchase private brand beauty products and as with grocery products, employed students are more prone to purchase private brand beauty products.